Sydney Martinez, Campus Carrier news editor
Berry College’s Solidarity Week this year will be held from Monday, Sept. 15 through Friday Sept. 19. This year’s theme, “It Begins with Me: A Good Neighbor’s Path to Peace,” focuses on peace through the way we care for ourselves, our neighbors and the world.
Chief Belonging and Community Engagement Officer Haley Smith said the theme was chosen based on the recent shifts and changes that have occurred in the world. The Solidarity Week team reflected upon how students and faculty can create peace despite recent events.
“One of the things that our team has discussed is this idea of if we want to create peace, how do we also create peace within ourselves?” Smith said. “What does peace look like for ourselves so that we’re able to actually sustain being peace builders within our own communities or families or workplaces, or in this case, at school.”
Smith hopes that as students go through Solidarity Week, they will learn that peace is not just the end goal, but also a process of peace
with oneself.
“We kind of think of [peace] as an end result, but I definitely see the beauty [of] it’s something that is a continual process that you have to do within yourself, so that you can better do it with people,” Smith said.
Speakers for this year’s Solidarity Week include Grammy-nominated artist and neurodiversity Advocate Jamie Grace, the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, Licensed Professional Counselor and Resilience Advocate Heather Medley and Athletic Director and Inner-Peace Champion Angel Mason.
The keynote speaker this year is Trent Shelton, a former NFL player turned performance and purpose motivational speaker. Shelton has made it his mission to talk about bringing peace into communities, starting with peace with oneself.
“It’s good to have somebody that can kind of come in and relate to our students,” Smith said. “I understand from the perspective of a student what life has felt like, and [Shelton] can give us some encouragement on how we are taking care of ourselves and taking care of each other.”
Smith said Shelton will be able to connect at Berry students’ level to help them balance their gifts and passions. Shelton will share his experience with choosing peace in daily life and the nine unapologetic principles for thriving in a chaotic world.
Shelton’s motivational speech is a part of the Conson Wilson Lecture Series, a series that brings speakers of national and international note to Berry. His speech will be held in the Krannert Ballroom at 6 p.m., following the 5 p.m. Solidarity Week Community March that will begin at the College Chapel and end at Krannert Center.
Solidarity Week includes events that count towards the 24 cultural event (CE) credits required for graduation. CE credit events include the Conson Wilson Lecture with Shelton and Berry Circles on Monday, four breakout sessions on Tuesday, an art creation session and a performing arts showcase on Wednesday, two breakout sessions and speaker Jamie Grace on Thursday.
On Friday, a Wellness Retreat hosted by the Counseling Center, Recreation, and Student Well-being & Support, will be held at the Jewel Box and surrounding areas from 2 p.m. to 6:15 p.m., featuring recreational activities to cultivate peace through movements to slow down the mind and care for the body.
Solidarity Week has routinely been led by students. Mykelle Patterson is overseeing and coordinating this year as student leader. A student leader gives a student perspective to the planning of the event and insight on what events students will likely engage with.
“I got to be a big part of crafting what kind of events [students] want to see,” Patterson said. “We’re going to do an art museum and a showcase and a fashion show.”
Smith said Solidarity Week is a student-led conference in collaboration with different student organizations across campus. It brings awareness to impactful events that are happening in the surrounding Rome community.
Solidarity Week is a Berry tradition that began in 2017 by Diamond Newsome (20C) in response to white supremacist protests that occurred in Charlottesville, Va. The program expanded in 2020 due to a comment that was critical of the Black Lives Matter movement made by a Residence Life area coordinator.
“[Solidarity Week] started as students standing up against discriminatory acts that were happening on campus that they didn’t want to see and they weren’t proud of,” Patterson said. “They took the initiative to create spaces for dialogue, to create spaces for the education of like, ‘okay, this is how we’re different, and this is the importance of learning about why we’re different’.”
The tradition continues to grow, each year to allow students, staff and faculty to be included.